Carpooling: M’sia among the worst in the world

PETALING JAYA: Most Malaysians who drive to work in Kuala Lumpur commute by themselves, a survey has found.

The survey by the Centre for Governance and Political Studies (Cent-GPS) found that 87.3% of Malaysians in the Klang Valley are alone in their vehicles, one of the highest single driver commuter rates in the world.

The survey found that around 11.6% travel with one passenger on board whilst only 0.9% travel with two other passengers.

It said that e-hailing drivers and their passengers were excluded.

Close to 5,000 vehicles were surveyed from Oct 23 to 25 across different parts of the Klang Valley, between 8am and 9.10am.

The sample respondents were drivers who were heading towards the Central Business District (CBD) on a highway that is tolled.

Cent-GPS said this was to ensure they were financially committed to driving to work and signified that they would rather pay toll and the cost of fuel than the charges for public transport.

The researchers were stationed in Ampang, Seri Kembangan, Sungai Buloh and Petaling Jaya, at locations near a toll, and linked residential areas and places of work.

“In our qualitative studies, it is clear from our respondents that many prefer to drive alone because of comfort.

“They would rather spend the morning drive alone to gather their thoughts or listen to their even favourite music.

“They would prefer to do this without having to layan (interact) with a passenger,” Cent-GPS said in a press release yesterday.

The other reason given by these drivers was that public transport still remained cumbersome, with some complaining that the cost of parking at an LRT or MRT station was the same as parking at work.

A few others complained that when they carpooled they were late for work as their colleagues would often wake up late.

According to Cent-GPS, in 2018 the United States was found to have a nationwide average single driver commuter rate of 66% whilst the other 34% carpooled.

In Spain, around 56% of workers commute alone by driving whilst the other 44% carpooled or took public transport.

In Belgium, the number of single-driver commuters has been declining at a rate of 5% a year to what is now believed to be only around 30% of single-driver commuters.